


Graduation Day

by OceanCandy (PaddlingDingo), PaddlingDingo



Series: The Spaces In Between [1]
Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Eliot graduates Brakebills, Friendship, Gen, Mild Angst, Past queliot, before Eliot becomes a professor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:08:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24192610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaddlingDingo/pseuds/OceanCandy, https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaddlingDingo/pseuds/PaddlingDingo
Summary: Eliot graduates from Brakebills, walking alone, yet surrounded by friends both tangible and missing.
Series: The Spaces In Between [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1746043
Comments: 9
Kudos: 25





	Graduation Day

Eliot took a deep breath, managing a smile. He waited at the end of the line to start down the wide isle to the podium at the front. The tassel on his hat dangled out of the corner of his eye and he watched it swing for a moment. 

It was only a couple of weeks after rebuilding Fillory. Eliot had been moved into the current graduating class, due to his years of experience and his proficiency. A result of spending so much time in Fillory, with the way time moved, was that Eliot had now outpaced every other student at the school. He’d asked to do his final exams, and graduate from Brakebills. 

It had come with mixed feelings. He’d be graduating alone; Margo should be here with him. At the rate that they’d all grown, Alice and Josh, too. And Quentin. Quentin should be here, in a grown and cap in the Brakebills colors. Eliot could see them in his mind, tried to picture them all. 

They’d have to walk arm in arm, all of them in a row. They’d take up the entire isle, but Eliot couldn’t picture it any other way. Him in the middle, with Quentin and Margo on each arm. Beside them, Alice and Josh. 

Their footsteps moved across the carpet, all smiles as they moved to the front of the hall. They’d worked years for this, sacrificed. Lost. Original Penny, who should have been here, too. Kady and Julia who hadn’t made it this far but who should have. New Penny, who had already been offered a job as a professor at the school based on his aptitude tests.

He could see them in the audience, though. Julia, Kady, and Penny. Penny yelled something he couldn’t hear, but he laughed. Their smiles meant the world. Next to them, Charlton. Still looking like Hyman, but always still sounding so much like Charlton. Another change to get used to. 

He could almost picture where Fen would sit. She wouldn’t have missed this. 

Margo groaned. “Are you getting all sentimental on me, Eliot?” 

“Never, Bambi, you know me,” he murmured, leaning over to kiss the top of her head. 

“Don’t cry,” she warned. “Time to ovary up and make the walk.”

Eliot could almost feel Quentin’s arm in his, tucked through his, like it should have been. It should have been them walking hand in hand, unafraid of the world or it’s judgment. 

“You’ve got this,” Quentin assured, letting go of his arm. He didn’t want Quentin to let go, he wanted to hold on, as impossible as that was. 

The pain of it sunk in and Eliot turned away. He resisted the urge to look back as he walked the stairs, knowing full well what he’d see. 

Instead he focused on Henry at the podium, holding Eliot’s diploma in his hands.

Lipson announced the names as each person approached. “Eliot Waugh.” 

Eliot took the stairs and took the diploma in it’s folder, shaking Henry’s hand. Henry smiled and then Eliot kept walking, down the other set of stairs to the main part of the stage. A part of him waited for their names, waited for something, but nothing came; he was the last one in line. 

He looked back and found the stage empty except for Henry and Lipson. All his friends, that were never there. He forced himself to smile as people with cameras took pictures, as they cheered, and he pushed down the pain. They should have been here, but instead he was alone. Tears threatened to pool in the corner of his eyes and he blinked them away. 

As he waded back into the crowd, he felt a hand on his back. He looked over to see Penny. The others surrounded him, and he felt the smile on his face start to feel more genuine. 

“So you finally did it,” Penny declared. 

“Finally?” Eliot snorted. “Oh please, Penny, I would have done this last year if not for dealing with so much bullshit.”

“We all know that,” Julia said, shaking her head at Penny. “We’re so proud of you.”

“I’ll cry, and I don’t want to cry, so can we get to the group hug or something?” Eliot adjusted his cap. 

He’d been kidding about the group hug, but they surrounded him, wrapping their arms around him. Someone put a hand on his back between his shoulder blades, in that spot that always reassured him. He looked over to see Charlton smiling at him. Of course Charlton would know. He felt like he should be unnerved by that, but instead, he put an arm around Charlton, appreciating his friend who had seen the absolute worst of him and still stood with him here. A feeling rose up in him, a gratefulness. Charlton’s fingers curled against Eliot’s back and for all that it seemed strange that he was here, and that he didn’t look like himself, it soothed his nerves.

“We planned a party at the apartment,” Kady said. “We’ve got food there and everything, Pete’s getting it all set up, if you’re up for tacos. We can bring it here if you want, but we thought you might like to get away from all of this.”

Eliot didn’t know for sure; the apartment would remind him of everyone else just as much as being here was. But there, he could completely be himself, with those that knew him. “Is there everything I need to make the Physical Kids’ signature cocktail?”

“Maybe, if you’ll ever tell us what’s actually in it,” Kady noted. 

“And give away my secrets? No, I’m going to make myself necessary at parties for my mixology skills for a long time yet.” He removed his hat and threw it into the air, casting a spell to make it fly around the hall. “Let’s blow this taco stand. It doesn’t even have actual tacos.”

“Tacos.” Charlton said the world slowly. “I haven’t had tacos.”

“Oh, this is going to be fun.” Eliot rubbed his hands together. “I hope you guys got the hot salsa.”

“I’m pretty sure Pete got all the salsa.” Kady grinned.

Above them, magical fireworks went off inside the hall, and Charlton stared up, eyes wide as he watched. “I haven’t seen this in... a long time.” His eyes looked sad and faraway for a moment, and Eliot squeezed his arm in reassurance.

Penny pulled them all together and in the moment before the blinked away to the apartment, Eliot brought the hat back to him and put it back on. He’d made it. Now that he’d graduated, he’d have time to research how to find new Fillory. And he had all the help he’d need, if they could just find a way. But they would; they always did.

In the meantime, there were cocktails, tacos, and friends. 


End file.
